Plans to move students in an accelerated high school program into the same building that houses John McDonogh High School ran into searing opposition Wednesday evening, as alumni and community members gathered to complain about the idea of mixing two student populations in a dilapidated building.

Times-Picayune archiveJohn McDonogh High School

The accelerated program, run by the charter school group ReNew, is designed to help students who have fallen behind catch up to grade level and earn a diploma. But residents and former students voiced concerns that bringing a new body of struggling students into the building will inevitably mean trouble, pointing out that students as old as 20 will occupy the same school building as students in their early teens.

And they railed against the Recovery School District, the state body that has overseen most schools in the city since Hurricane Katrina, for acting without consulting or even fully informing those likely to be affected.

That's now a familiar complaint about the RSD and one that the district's new superintendent, John White, has vowed to address. The brewing fight over space at John McDonogh may be one of the first tests he faces in overcoming community suspicion about the district's intentions. More than once, attendees at Wednesday's meeting accused the RSD of ignoring the needs of students who already attend John McDonogh, or John Mac, as its usually known.

"We know our students have been victimized by the grand scheme to dismantle our school system," said Brenda Square, who lives near the school. "We are going to organize to fight this."

The John McDonogh alumni association has initiated a planning committee to develop a strategy both for resisting the RSD's plan to move the accelerated program and for improving John McDonogh, which has continued to struggle academically since the state took over after the storm.

Despite broad gains in state testing among RSD students, the latest results show some of the district's schools continue to lag. John McDonogh had fewer than 20 percent of its students scoring at grade level in reading and math. It's one of a handful of schools often referred to as "schools of last resort," and critics who came out Wednesday put the blame for that status squarely on the Recovery School District.

Shinola Powell-Wright, an alumna and the event's moderator, said she learned of plans to move the ReNew program into the building not from the school or the district, but from a flier.

"There has been no formal announcement or involvement of the community in making this decision," she said. "The placement of an alternative high school in an existing high school will cause irreparable harm."

Jean Pinney, the executive director of ReNew's accelerated schools, attended the meeting as something of the designated punching bag, and took issue with the term "alternative high school." The designation usually distinguishes schools that take on students who have dropped out of other schools or had disciplinary problems, a perception that clearly motivated some concerns at the meeting.

Pinney said the ReNew school will take students aged 15 to 20 who are sometimes years behind their proper grade levels. But all of the 150 students enrolled have voluntarily applied to be in the program. They've simply slipped through the cracks because of Katrina, a pregnancy or some other obstacle. Some already attend John McDonogh.

Pinney said ReNew will be careful nonetheless to section off the school's student body from John McDonogh, scheduling a different lunch period in the cafeteria and arranging for students to enter the building through separate doors.

Tammy Barney, an official with the RSD who handles communications and community outreach, also tried to ease concerns, acknowledging the that the RSD has made mistakes and defending ReNew and the district's chief. She assured the group that White will hear their concerns and meet with them.

"This program is designed to help kids who have been underserved," she said.

Critics at the meeting seemed unimpressed.

Tanzania Elder, a 16-year-old student at John McDonogh, said she worried that bringing in more students from around the city would breed conflict.